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{\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1507;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\lang1033\b\f0\fs24 THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO\b0 .\par
\par
    THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could;\par
but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.  You, who so well\par
know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave\par
utterance to a threat.  \i At length\i0  I would be avenged;  this was a\par
point definitively settled - but the very definitiveness with which\par
it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk.  I must not only punish,\par
but punish with impunity.  A wrong is unredressed when retribution\par
overtakes its redresser.  It is equally unredressed when the avenger\par
fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.\par
\par
    It must be understood, that neither by word nor deed had I given\par
Fortunato cause to doubt my good will.  I continued, as was my wont,\par
to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile \i now\i0  was\par
at the thought of his immolation.\par
\par
    He had a weak point - this Fortunato - although in other regards\par
he was a man to be respected and even feared.  He prided himself on\par
his connoisseurship in wine.  Few Italians have the true virtuoso\par
spirit.  For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the\par
time and opportunity - to practise imposture upon the British and\par
Austrian \i millionaires\i0 .  In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like\par
his countrymen, was a quack - but in the matter of old wines he was\par
sincere.  In this respect I did not differ from him materially:  I\par
was skilful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely\par
whenever I could.\par
\par
    It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the\par
carnival season, that I encountered my friend.  He accosted me with\par
excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much.  The man wore\par
motley.  He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head\par
was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.  I was so pleased to see\par
him, that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand.\par
\par
    I said to him - "My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met.  How\par
remarkably well you are looking to-day!  But I have received a pipe\par
of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts."\par
\par
    "How?" said he.  "Amontillado?  A pipe?  Impossible!  And in\par
the middle of the carnival!"\par
\par
    "I have my doubts," I replied;  "and I was silly enough to pay\par
the full Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter.  You\par
were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain."\par
\par
    "Amontillado!"\par
\par
    "I have my doubts."\par
\par
    "Amontillado!"\par
\par
    "And I must satisfy them."\par
\par
    "Amontillado!"\par
\par
    "As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi.  If any one has a\par
critical turn, it is he.  He will tell me --"\par
\par
    "Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry."\par
\par
    "And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for\par
your own."\par
\par
    "Come, let us go."\par
\par
    "Whither?"\par
\par
    "To your vaults."\par
\par
    "My friend, no;  I will not impose upon your good nature.  I\par
perceive you have an engagement.  Luchesi --"\par
\par
    "I have no engagement; - come."\par
\par
    "My friend, no.  It is not the engagement, but the severe cold\par
with which I perceive you are afflicted.  The vaults are insufferably\par
damp.  They are encrusted with nitre."\par
\par
    "Let us go, nevertheless.  The cold is merely nothing.\par
Amontillado!  You have been imposed upon.  And as for Luchesi, he\par
cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado."\par
\par
    Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my arm.  Putting on\par
a mask of black silk, and drawing a \i roquelaire\i0  closely about my\par
person, I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo.\par
\par
    There were no attendants at home;   they had absconded to make\par
merry in honor of the time.  I had told them that I should not return\par
until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir\par
from the house.  These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure\par
their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was\par
turned.\par
\par
    I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to\par
Fortunato, bowed him through several suites of rooms to the archway\par
that led into the vaults.  I passed down a long and winding\par
staircase, requesting him to be cautious as he followed.  We came at\par
length to the foot of the descent, and stood together on the damp\par
ground of the catacombs of the Montresors.\par
\par
    The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap\par
jingled as he strode.\par
\par
    "The pipe," said he.\par
\par
    "It is farther on," said I;  "but observe the white web-work\par
which gleams from these cavern walls."\par
\par
    He turned towards me, and looked into my eyes with two filmy orbs\par
that distilled the rheum of intoxication.\par
\par
    "Nitre?" he asked, at length.\par
\par
    "Nitre," I replied.  "How long have you had that cough?"\par
\par
    "Ugh!  ugh!  ugh! - ugh!  ugh!  ugh! - ugh!  ugh!  ugh!\par
- ugh!  ugh!  ugh! - ugh!  ugh!  ugh!"\par
\par
    My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes.\par
\par
    "It is nothing," he said, at last.\par
\par
    "Come," I said, with decision, "we will go back;  your health is\par
precious.  You are rich, respected, admired, beloved;  you are\par
happy, as once I was.  You are a man to be missed.  For me it is no\par
matter.  We will go back;  you will be ill, and I cannot be\par
responsible.  Besides, there is Luchesi --"\par
\par
    "Enough," he said;  "the cough is a mere nothing; it will not\par
kill me.  I shall not die of a cough."\par
\par
    "True - true," I replied;  "and, indeed, I had no intention of\par
alarming you unnecessarily - but you should use all proper caution.\par
A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps."\par
\par
    Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a long\par
row of its fellows that lay upon the mould.\par
\par
    "Drink," I said, presenting him the wine.\par
\par
    He raised it to his lips with a leer.  He paused and nodded to me\par
familiarly, while his bells jingled.\par
\par
    "I drink," he said, "to the buried that repose around us."\par
\par
    "And I to your long life."\par
\par
    He again took my arm, and we proceeded.\par
\par
    "These vaults," he said, "are extensive."\par
\par
    "The Montresors," I replied, "were a great and numerous family."\par
\par
    "I forget your arms."\par
\par
    "A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure;  the foot crushes a\par
serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel."\par
\par
    "And the motto?"\par
\par
    \cf1\i "Nemo me impune lacessit."\cf0\i0\par
\par
    "Good!" he said.\par
\par
    The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled.  My own\par
fancy grew warm with the Medoc.  We had passed through walls of piled\par
bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost\par
recesses of the catacombs.  I paused again, and this time I made bold\par
to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow.\par
\par
    "The nitre!" I said:  "see, it increases.  It hangs like moss\par
upon the vaults.  We are below the river's bed.  The drops of\par
moisture trickle among the bones.  Come, we will go back ere it is\par
too late.  Your cough --"\par
\par
    "It is nothing," he said;  "let us go on. But first, another\par
draught of the Medoc."\par
\par
    I broke and reached him a flagon of De Gr\'e2\'80\'9ave.  He emptied it at a\par
breath.  His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed and threw\par
the bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand.\par
\par
    I looked at him in surprise.  He repeated the movement - a\par
grotesque one.\par
\par
    "You do not comprehend?" he said.\par
\par
    "Not I," I replied.\par
\par
    "Then you are not of the brotherhood."\par
\par
    "How?"\par
\par
    "You are not of the masons."\par
\par
    "Yes, yes," I said, "yes, yes."\par
\par
    "You?  Impossible!  A mason?"\par
\par
    "A mason," I replied.\par
\par
    "A sign," he said.\par
\par
    "It is this," I answered, producing a trowel from beneath the\par
folds of my \i roquelaire\i0 .\par
\par
    "You jest," he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces.  "But let us\par
proceed to the Amontillado."\par
\par
    "Be it so," I said, replacing the tool beneath the cloak, and\par
again offering him my arm.  He leaned upon it heavily.  We continued\par
our route in search of the Amontillado.  We passed through a range of\par
low arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived at a\par
deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux\par
rather to glow than flame.\par
\par
    At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another less\par
spacious.  Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the\par
vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris.\par
Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this\par
manner.  From the fourth the bones had been thrown down, and lay\par
promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some\par
size.  Within the wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones,\par
we perceived a still interior recess, in depth about four feet, in\par
width three, in height six or seven.  It seemed to have been\par
constructed for no especial use in itself, but formed merely the\par
interval between two of the colossal supports of the roof of the\par
catacombs, and was backed by one of their circumscribing walls of\par
solid granite.\par
\par
    It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull torch,\par
endeavored to pry into the depths of the recess.  Its termination the\par
feeble light did not enable us to see.\par
\par
    "Proceed," I said;  "herein is the Amontillado.  As for Luchesi\par
--"\par
\par
    "He is an ignoramus," interrupted my friend, as he stepped\par
unsteadily forward, while I followed immediately at his heels. In an\par
instant he had reached the extremity of the niche, and finding his\par
progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly bewildered. A moment\par
more and I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two\par
iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally.\par
From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock.\par
Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few\par
seconds to secure it. He was too much astounded to resist.\par
Withdrawing the key I stepped back from the recess.\par
\par
    "Pass your hand," I said, "over the wall;  you cannot help\par
feeling the nitre.  Indeed it is \i very\i0  damp.  Once more let me\par
\i implore\i0  you to return.  No?  Then I must positively leave you.\par
But I must first render you all the little attentions in my power."\par
\par
    "The Amontillado!" ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from\par
his astonishment.\par
\par
    "True," I replied;  "the Amontillado."\par
\par
    As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of bones of\par
which I have before spoken.  Throwing them aside, I soon uncovered a\par
quantity of building stone and mortar.  With these materials and with\par
the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of\par
the niche.\par
\par
    I had scarcely laid the first tier of my masonry when I\par
discovered that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great measure\par
worn off.  The earliest indication I had of this was a low moaning\par
cry from the depth of the recess.  It was \i not\i0  the cry of a drunken\par
man.  There was then a long and obstinate silence.  I laid the second\par
tier, and the third, and the fourth;  and then I heard the furious\par
vibrations of the chain.  The noise lasted for several minutes,\par
during which, that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction,\par
I ceased my labors and sat down upon the bones.  When at last the\par
clanking subsided, I resumed the trowel, and finished without\par
interruption the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh tier.  The wall\par
was now nearly upon a level with my breast.  I again paused, and\par
holding the flambeaux over the mason-work, threw a few feeble rays\par
upon the figure within.\par
\par
    A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from\par
the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back.\par
For a brief moment I hesitated - I trembled.  Unsheathing my rapier,\par
I began to grope with it about the recess:  but the thought of an\par
instant reassured me.  I placed my hand upon the solid fabric of the\par
catacombs, and felt satisfied.  I reapproached the wall.  I replied\par
to the yells of him who clamored.  I re-echoed - I aided - I\par
surpassed them in volume and in strength.  I did this, and the\par
clamorer grew still.\par
\par
    It was now midnight, and my task was drawing to a close.  I had\par
completed the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth tier.  I had finished\par
a portion of the last and the eleventh;   there remained but a\par
single stone to be fitted and plastered in.  I struggled with its\par
weight;  I placed it partially in its destined position.  But now\par
there came from out the niche a low laugh that erected the hairs upon\par
my head.  It was succeeded by a sad voice, which I had difficulty in\par
recognising as that of the noble Fortunato.  The voice said -\par
\par
    "Ha!  ha!  ha! - he!  he! - a very good joke indeed - an\par
excellent jest.  We will have many a rich laugh about it at the\par
palazzo - he!  he!  he! - over our wine - he!  he!  he!"\par
\par
    "The Amontillado!" I said.\par
\par
    "He!  he!  he! - he!  he!  he! - yes, the Amontillado.  But\par
is it not getting late?  Will not they be awaiting us at the\par
palazzo, the Lady Fortunato and the rest?  Let us be gone."\par
\par
    "Yes," I said, "let us be gone."\par
\par
    \i "For the love of God, Montressor!"\i0\par
\par
    "Yes," I said, "for the love of God!"\par
\par
    But to these words I hearkened in vain for a reply.  I grew\par
impatient.  I called aloud -\par
\par
    "Fortunato!"\par
\par
    No answer.  I called again -\par
\par
    "Fortunato!"\par
\par
    No answer still.  I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture\par
and let it fall within.  There came forth in return only a jingling\par
of the bells.  My heart grew sick - on account of the dampness of the\par
catacombs.  I hastened to make an end of my labor.  I forced the last\par
stone into its position;  I plastered it up.  Against the new\par
masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones.  For the half of a\par
century no mortal has disturbed them.  \i In pace requiescat!\i0\par
\par
~~~ End of Text ~~~\par
\par
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